In God's Fold

Jesus' heart broke over Jerusalem as he remarked how he wanted to gather his children together as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings because they were not willing to do so. (Matt. 23, Luke 13) This mother hen imagery expresses a two-fold result: to draw us near to him and to draw us near to one another. If Jesus is drawing us near to him as a mother hen draws its chicks, that means that we cannot come near to God without coming near to our brothers and sisters in Christ as well. If the chicks fight with one another, it is easy to see it would be impossible for any of them to be gathered under the loving wings of their mother. As we love God and love our neighbors as ourselves, it is easy to see that we will live in unity in the warm, soft, feathery goodness of God's fold. But that is up to you. Are you willing?

All You Can Expect from a Pig...

... is a grunt! What a great quote. But what can one expect from us as Christians? As sinful humans, sometimes we still "grunt"; that is, say (and do) things we shouldn't. And the same is true for others as well. I found this great story today regarding what happens when we are the recipients of offensive behavior.

STONE

TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING THROUGH THE DESERT. DURING SOME POINT OF THE JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN ARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIEND SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE IN THE FACE. THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING, WROTE IN THE SAND:
“TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.”
THEY KEPT ON WALKING, UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS, WHERE THEY DECIDED TO TAKE A BATH. THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE MIRE AND STARTED DROWNING, BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM. AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM THE NEAR DROWNING, HE WROTE ON A STONE: “TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.”
THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND ASKED HIM, “AFTER I HURT YOU, YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW, YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?”
THE FRIEND REPLIED, “WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY. BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING GOOD FOR US, WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE WHERE NO WIND CAN EVER ERASE IT.”

'Nuff said.

The Simple Life

Last Friday, my laptop died. It was a very disconcerting experience and I was wondering what I would do when it is sent for repairs. Although luckily for me I have been able to use Jachin's home computer, it is a lot slower than mine and I also don't have access to a lot of files because of it. I am wondering if God is trying to show me how dependent I am on my computer, and even internet access. Not having to check email or surf the internet so easily makes me feel like I have so much more time. And as I reflect back upon my message of peace from last Sunday, I begin to realize that the technology that in many ways has made my life easier has also been robbing me of some peace of mind. Getting weaned off of my laptop has been an emancipating experience. Sure I am not as connected and it does take longer to do things with this older computer than my laptop, but sometimes (more like most of the time) I end up spending too long at the computer when I could have been doing something else. My life has been simplified and slowed down a bit (Heck, I can't even upload a picture on this blog for whatever reason!) and I am sure it's not for the worse. (Of course I still have TV, but God is gracious, and to not have my laptop and TV at the same time might be more than I can bear. Thank you, Lord.) May you experience the simplicity and peace that comes from a broken laptop this week.

Can You Take the Bible "Literally"? Part II

Previously, I posted part of a letter from Greg Koukl of Stand To Reason. In his letter, Greg discussed the most practical way to read the bible is not unlike the way you read the sports pages.

If it states a fact or an event, take it literally. If it states something metaphorically or poetically, take it that way. Greg suggests that we don't think one sports team LITERALLY "crushed" another team when we read that in the sports section of our newspaper - we take it to be a metaphor for "defeating the other team decidedly." Likewise, we don't literally think God's Holy Bible can shine a light onto a darkened path at nighttime. We would use a flashlight or lantern for that purpose.

So now one might ask, when do you take the Bible "literally" and when do you take it - say, "metaphorically"? Greg has an opinion...

Let's see the rest of his letter... (click image to enlarge.)

Are You Operating on All Cylinders?

5.7 liter Dodge Hemi Engine

This engine is very potent. But it's not only powerful, it's efficient as well. For highway cruising or light acceleration, four of its eight cylinders shut down. So technically speaking, it would be possible to drive on four cylinders all the time for the life of the engine. But that would be a huge waste. If you were going to do that, you might as well drive a dinky 2002 Honda Civic with a 115 HP engine. No, given its 340 HP and 390 lb-ft. of torque, the Hemi was made for power. And truly, so are we. Last Sunday, we had the pleasure of having Rev. Don Hargis come to guest speak in worship service. He reminded us of Acts 1:8, which is when Jesus said that we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. As believers, we all have the Holy Spirit living within us, and are made to go hard in our faith and with reckless abandon. We don't have constraints like fuel economy. The only limiting factor in our spiritual lives is how much we are willing to seek and obey God. In fact, in John 14:12, Jesus even said that we would do greater things than he has done. Amazing stuff. Unfortunately too many Christians are content to only lightly accelerate and cruise along through life, never fully experiencing the deep rumble of the Holy Spirit's power clicking on all cylinders. Don't be one of them, content to be underachievers. This week, resolve to seek and obey God with reckless abandon and experience his mighty power in your life. And as you fulfill your potential and experience the life that you were meant to live, you'll be amazed at what he will do in you and through you. But don't take my word for it, take God's.

Can You Take the Bible "Literally"?

Greg Koukl from Stand to Reason has a great approach for answer the question, "can you take the bible literally?"

Here is a portion of a letter I received from Greg's organization.


To learn more, visit the outstanding Christian apologetics website, Stand to Reason at http://www.str.org/
click on the image to enlarge





I will post the rest of the letter soon...

EXPELLED!

From the EXPELLED website:

Whether you realize it or not, you are in a war. It is a war that has been going on since recorded history. From the exchange between Eve and the serpent, truth has always been questioned. And reality is that truth is being pushed out of our consciousness slowly but surely. As people who believe that the earth and the rest of the universe was created by God, we get ridiculed as people living in fantasy land while those who believe in evolution are the "educated" ones, even if it takes just as much faith if not more to believe their "theory" that seems to have evolved into "fact." Ben Stein made a movie called EXPELLED! regarding the current state of the academic community regarding this issue of creation vs. evolution. Click on the link and watch the super trailer; very interesting stuff!

http://www.expelledthemovie.com/playground.php

I am amazed to see what is being taught in the highest academic communities, the colleges and universities. Christians need to be informed of this, and this movie can be a great start. As the salt and light of the earth, we are called to make a difference and can be silent no longer. How do we fight? Share the Gospel with as many people as possible and teach the truth always. We can also lobby for fairness and more balanced teaching in our schools, colleges, and universities. And above all else, pray that God would make the truth known!